Leadership team

Mr Agarwal is a qualified Chartered Accountant, Cost and Works Accountant and Company Secretary and has over 25 years of rich and varied experience in industries like Retail, BPO, Telecom, Manmade fibres, Shipping and Logistics., and has successfully led businesses as CEO since 1992, mainly in telecom services and shipping, logistics and ports sectors.

Mr Agarwal was the CEO of Modi Champion during 1992-94 and Joint Managing Director of Modi Korea Telecom during 1994-97. He joined the Essar Group in 1997 as Chief Operating Officer in Essar Telecom. Mr Agarwal has served on the Boards of public listed companies in India and the United States. He has held the position of Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director on the Board of this Company during 1998-2002.

Mr Agarwal was the President of IndoRama Synthetics Limited during 2002-2004. He held the position of CEO and Director of The Mobile Store Limited and created a well-recognised and strong Indian telecom brand in just two years.

Mr Agarwal has won a series of accolades and awards including CEO of the Year Award – 2009 Asia Retail Congress; Retail Professional of the Year: 2008 at Franchise India; and Best Retailer in Telecom Segment – over two years at the India Retail Forum.

Mr Agarwal is also a Director on the boards of various other Indian companies.

Mr Sinha has done his B.Sc (Engg) in Mechanical Engineering from BIT, Sindri and has obtained his Masters in Business Administration from FMS, University of Delhi.

Mr Sinha has over 32 years experience with industry majors such as Petronet India Ltd., Indian Oil Corporation and Bokaro Steel Ltd.

Prior to joining Essar, he was Managing Director at Petronet India Ltd, a position he held since 2000.

Mr Sinha has served Indian Oil Corporation for over 27 years in various capacities. As Executive Director, he was responsible for implementation of the entire pipeline project of IOC.

Mr Sinha is also a Director on the boards of various other Indian companies.

Mr Sawa is a qualified Chartered Accountant and Cost and Works Accountant. He has a rich and varied experience of over 23 years in the fields of Finance and Capital Markets.

Mr Sawa has been associated with the Essar Group since 1994 and has held many positions in various group companies viz. India Securities Limited, Essar Power Limited and Essar Oil Limited. He was associated with Essar Oil Limited since January 2002 and has played a leading role in restarting of the refinery project and restructuring of the company's financials besides raising large amounts required for completing the refinery.

In 2007, Mr Sawa was appointed as Chief Financial Officer of Essar Oil's Refinery Expansion Division. He spearheaded the fund-raising for the refinery expansion plan and tied up External Commercial Borrowings and rupee loan of Rs. 18,600 crore (USD 4.6 billion) which was one of the largest debt tie-ups in the history of the Indian corporate sector.

As Chief Financial Officer of the Expansion Division, Mr Sawa was responsible for Finance, Treasury, Accounts, Audit and Compliances. Prior to this, Mr Sawa has been associated with many organisations such as Gujarat Ambuja Cements Ltd, Modern Wollens Ltd and Securities & Exchange Board of India.

Mr Sawa is also a Director on the boards of various other Indian companies.

Mr Bansal is a commerce graduate and has an M.A. (Economics); he is also a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India; Associate Member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, London; and Associate Member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India.

He joined the Department of Company Affairs in December 1956. He was the Registrar of Companies, Punjab, Tamilnadu and Maharashtra.

Mr Bansal has served as a Government Nominee Director on all major Stock Exchanges of India. He was the Additional Director of Inspection & Investigation, Company Law Board, New Delhi; Regional Director (Southern and Western Regions); Director (Investment); and Additional Controller of Capital Issues and member of Company Law Board. He dealt with matters relating to share transfer appeals, Company Law Boards Bench Petitions, Policy Rules and Amendment of the Companies/MRTP Acts etc.

Mr Bansal visited USA in 1981 to attend the meeting of the expert group of UN on Standard Accounting. He served as the National Treasurer of All India Scouts & Guides. Mr Bansal visited Japan as India representative in the World Congress in 1971. He is also a recipient of the Silver Elephant Award. Mr Bansal presented papers on corporate law related matters in various forms.

Mr Bansal is serving as an independent professional Director on the boards of various Indian public limited companies.

Mr Thakkar, a practicing Chartered Accountant since last 46 years, is a Partner of Jayantilal Thakkar & Co. and Jayantilal Thakkar Associates, Chartered Accountants, Mumbai. MrThakkar has vast experience in the fields of Accounts, Finance, Taxation, FEMA etc.

Mr Thakkar is also a Director on the boards of various Indian public limited companies.

Mr Deepak Kumar Varma is B.E. (Mechanical) and MBA by qualification and is a Management Consultant and Arbitrator by profession and is a member of the Indian Council of Arbitrators.
                        
Mr Varma has held various senior management positions in Steel Authority of India Ltd; was the Chairman and Managing Director of Hindustan Shipyard Ltd; Chairman and Managing Director of Cochin Shipyard Ltd; Managing Director of National Ship Design & Research Centre (NSDRC); Chairman and Managing Director of Rashtriya Chemical & Fertilizers Ltd; Chairman and Managing Director of Fertilizers & Chemicals (Cochin); Director & Group Leader of Oman India Fertilizers (OMIFCO); and Chairman of the Standing Conference of Public Enterprises, the apex body of all Central PSUs.

Mr Varma has rich experience in the fields of Construction, Project Implementation (Marine, Shipping, Shipbuilding & Offshore Construction), Oil Field Equipment Manufacturing (Steel, Chemical and Fertilizer / Petrochemical), Communication and Corporate Governance.

Mr Varma is also a Director on the boards of various Indian public limited companies.

Mr Narayanasami has over 40 years experience in the field of Banking and Finance and is currently the Managing Director & CEO of United Stock Exchange of India Ltd and Chairman of Experian Credit Information Company of India Pvt Ltd.

Mr Narayanasami was associated with Bank of India as Chairman and Managing Director. Prior to that he was the Chairman & Managing Director of Indian Overseas Bank. He was also the Chairman & Managing Director of Andhra Bank. He has served as Executive Director of Punjab National Bank. He began his carrier with Union Bank of India and was General Manager prior to moving to Punjab National Bank.

He has held various positions as Chairman of Managing Committee of Indian Banks' Association; Director General - Insurance Corporation of India; President of the Governing Council of Indian Institute of Banking and Finance; Chairman of the Governing Board of Institute of Banking Personnel Selection; Member of Board of Trustees of Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises; Member - Governing Council, Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology; Member - Governing Council, National Institute of Bank Management; and Member - Primary Market Advisory Committee, Securities and Exchange Board of India.

Mr Narayanasami is also on the boards of various public limited companies such as Axis Asset Management Co. Ltd; Axis Mutual Fund; ITI Ltd;, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd; Central Depository Services (India) Ltd; Krishna Knitwear Technologies Ltd; and Asia Motor Works Ltd.

Mr Narayansami is also the Chairman of the Audit Committee of Central Depository Services (India) Ltd and Member of the Audit Committee of Axis Asset Management Company Ltd; ITI Ltd; and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd.

Mr Adam studied Economics at the University of Antwerp and has specialised in Accountancy from the University of Gent.

He is the Chief Financial Officer of Port of Antwerp International UK Ltd.

Mr Adam joined the Antwerp Port Authority as Chief Financial Officer in 2001 with overall responsibility over the finance departments, IT, port dues, in-house logistics and car fleet. He was also responsible for the department of concessions up to 2005. He also supervised the HR department for a year and a half.

After a stint with the military, Mr Adam was associated with Coopers & Lybrand (now Price Waterhouse Coopers) from 1986 to 2001 as financial auditor. He obtained professional qualification as Statutory Auditor for the period 1991 – 2001.

Mr Adam is also a Director on the Board of Port of Antwerp International UK Ltd;, Port of Antwerp International NV; Amaris NPO; Deurganckoaesluis NV; and GZA NPO. He is also the Chairman of the Audit Committee of GZA NPO.

Mr Srivastava has done his M.Sc. (Physics) from the University of Lucknow and M.A. (Management Studies) from University of Leeds (UK) and has been consistently placed in First Class / Distinction in academics.

Mr Srivastava has a rich experience of 45 years in various commercial organisations in India and abroad (mainly Public Sector undertakings in India and in Saudi Arabia).He was Director on the Board of Shipping Corporation of India Ltd for 15 years and 10 years as the Chairman and Managing Director of the company, which is a group "A" Public Sector Undertaking with an annual turnover in excess of USD 1 billion.

Mr Srivastava then joined Emirates Trading Agency L.L.C., Dubai, UAE, as Group Advisor (Trading & Shipping Division).  He was responsible for the overall management of large business enterprises mainly in the fields of Shipping, Oil Transportation and Infrastructure Development.

Mr Srivastava was the President of the Indian National Shipowners' Association  and the Association of Multimodal Transport Operators of India.

He was also the Chairman of Irano-Hind Shipping Company Ltd and Indian National Committee of American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and Member of ABS and its council.  He was also a Director on the Board of Steamship Mutual Underwriting Association Ltd (SMUL), London; Indian Register of Shipping; and Cochin Shipyard Ltd.  He also held the position of Chairman of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ceylon Conference.  Mr Srivastava was also a member of the Institute of Public Enterprises, Hyderabad,  Board of Governors and World Maritime University and National Shipping Board.

Mr Srivastava is currently a Director on the board of Essar Ports Limited, Vadinar Oil Terminal Limited and Essar Bulk Terminal Limited.